Silent Comforts
by Suffering Angel
Summary: Best friends didn't need to know; they just needed to be there. SoRiku


A low growl left the boy's mouth as he finally accepted the dreadful reality in which he was awake. Try as he did, toss and turn as much as the mattress allowed him, he couldn't fall back asleep.

"Ugh, bother." He muttered and curled up before popping his head from under the blanket. He squinted his eyes and much to his dismay, realized it was still dark.

"Bah, humbug." Was his final complaint before he accepted the unavoidable truth, pushed himself up to a sitting position and yawned.

Either it was too late or far too early, but regardless, Sora was up. He was not a happy camper regarding this fact.

Reaching a hand to rub his eyes he looked around to try and ascertain what disturbed him so much he woke up despite staying up the night before. The first conclusion he reached was that he was not in his own room. Right, he thought; he stayed over at Riku's house, occupying the extra mattress they kept for exactly such occasions. The next thing that breached through the sleepy fog that clouded his mind was [i]_why_[/i] he stayed over that night, but that thought was ignored in favor of the realization his friend's bed was empty. Following the logical trail (in light of the closed window, at least) Sora turned to look at the door and found it slightly ajar with the hallway's light seeping in through it.

Well, he was awake; might as well get up he concluded begrudgingly and pushed the blanket aside.

–

He couldn't remember when it started, but somewhere along the way Sora picked up on it. When Riku was upset, or sad, or distressed but wasn't about to share or at least be active about it, he'd stay up all night watching reruns of old, black-and-white movies. It certainly beat falling to the darkness again, Sora figured, but he wished Riku got more sleep despite that; it wasn't healthy.

True to this habit, once Sora went downstairs he found Riku planted on the living-room's sofa, an elbow on the armrest and a foot propped up on the seat. Not willing to make his presence - or at least, his intent - known quite yet, he silently made his way to the kitchen and extracted the carton of milk from the fridge. Hm, just enough for two mugs; perfect. Heck, if he was careful there might be enough left for Riku's dad's morning coffee...

The time it took the milk to heat let Sora wake up enough to review the situation a bit more clearly. Riku's been down for the past while, and despite common opinion Riku didn't tell Sora [i]_everything_[/i]. It made sense seeing how some aspects of his life had nothing to do with Sora at all. That was one such a time when Sora had only the rumors circulating to go by as Riku himself never spoke of the issue to him. It was enough to make Sora wonder if he really knew what it was all about, but he was ok with that, he concluded as he carefully poured the milk into the mugs and carefully made his way back to the living-room.

He didn't need to know why Riku was upset, or what he was brooding over, or even why there were tear-marks left on his cheeks, ones Riku hurriedly tried to wipe away once Sora offered him his mug of hot cocoa.

Sure, Sora'd have loved to know; Riku was in such a state over his unknown reason, after all... but he didn't have to. His status of being the guy's best friend didn't entail he knew what Riku didn't want him to know. That wasn't part of the benefits, no. What was included in the role and mattered then was in fact part of Sora's duty, and that included not letting Riku be alone then of all times; to not burden him with questions; to make him that mug of cocoa just so Sora could hear that distantly relieved sigh escape his friend's lips; to make sure that if even for a moment, even if tiredly, Riku would be able to smile.

"Al Capone again?"

"It's a classic."

That lone exchange preluded a long silence that was only disturbed by the almost-muted television. The cocoa was drank and the mugs were placed on the table. Positions shifted on the sofa in favor of comfort. Commercial breaks came and went but the remote was too far away and they were too comfortable to bother with it.

The monotony of their situation finally broke, or at least altered when a warm weight settled against Riku's shoulder and shifted on occasion with every soft breath. The tired smile from earlier made a return though it held a bit more warmth to it than before, even if the corners of Riku's lips twitched as he felt another wave of emotions threatening to overtake him. At least Sora was asleep for this one, he thought and rested his cheek against his friend's spiky mane.

"Thanks", he uttered and told himself that silent snore was a worthy reply, all things considered.


End file.
